


I'm Right Here

by sonofnjobu



Category: Black Panther (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Infinity War spoilers, Voodoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 08:27:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16301627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonofnjobu/pseuds/sonofnjobu
Summary: The world is in ashes after Thano's culling. The last with your knowledge, you are determined to do something about it.





	I'm Right Here

Your eyes rolled in to the back of your head and you released a deep, guttural moan in to the darkness. You were almost there; you could feel it. Tonight, you need only push a little harder.

Your husband disapproved, and you’d kept it a secret from him until now. But he had no choice. 

Magic had long been abandoned by Jabari and Wakandans alike, but your mother had taught you in secret. You had plans to teach your children as well, but tonight you were on your own. This was deeper and darker magic than that of which you had ever practiced before.

Night after night, you left your body. First you took the form of animals to search the surface of the earth and the depths of the seas. But that had been all for naught. What you searched for was not on this planet.

You’d been focusing your strength on exploring the stars, and from your research, very few before you had been able to see through the galaxy. Only one in all of Jabari history had transcended this plane, many centuries ago, to walk amongst gods. Heimdall, they called him.

 

You were not sure you were strong enough to go interstellar, but you had the determination. Like your mother, your magic was fueled by a deep and undeniable maternal instinct.

You snapped out of your trance to the sound of your husband screaming your name.

You kicked your legs out from under you and scrambled to get up, a cloud of dust billowing in your wake. You sprinted down the dark hallways, following his voice and finally coming upon the doorway to your bedroom.

M’Baku lay in the sheets, tangled, sweating, but still asleep. He whimpered as you carefully approached him from the side. You pressed the palm of your hand to his sticky shoulder and shook him lightly.

His eyes snapped open and he shot up in bed. You stepped to the side, narrowly missing his wide swinging arms as he attempted to orient himself in the dark.

“Y/N? Where are you?” he yelled.

You stepped forward once more and pressed your hand to his back. His hulking frame racked with sobs.

“I’m right here. You’re okay. I’m right here, my love.”

M’Baku turned and gripped you with all of his might. He wrapped his arms around the small of your back and buried his face in your chest. 

“Shhhh. Shhhh…” you cooed, stroking his hair as he sobbed in to the thin fabric of your nightgown. He didn’t lift his head and his voice was muffled as he spoke against your body.

“I couldn’t find you,” he murmured. “I thought you were gone. I thought I lost you.”

You continued your rhythmic rubbing of his back.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“And where are the children?” he asked, tears subsiding, breathing slowing.

“Right where I left them,” you confirmed. “Everything is okay.”

You stood there for a few moments more until M’Baku was ready to unlatch himself from you. 

“Go back to sleep my love,” you whispered. 

The Jabari King slowly lowered himself back in to bed. He’d been a wreck, and you couldn’t blame him. But you needed him sharp. Wakanda needed him sharp.

Hopefully one night he’d be able to make it all of the way through the night.  
You padded softly out of the room and gently closed the door behind you. You leaned up against the cold wood and clutched your chest. Your throat tightened and your eyes welled up with tears. You looked up at the ceiling and furiously blinked them back, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.

One of you needed to keep it together. You couldn’t both lose your shit.

After a few more breaths, you retreated down the hall. You glanced in to the nursery to find your youngest child asleep and undisturbed through the ruckus. You leaned in to his crib and pressed a kiss to his forehead, breathing in deeply the smell of his head. You’d never forget that smell, or that of your other two children.

Significantly more calm, you made your way back to your study, ready to work again.

“Sorry, mama,” you murmured as you returned. “That’s been happening a lot lately.”

You sunk down to your knees and began to gather up the scattered dust from your quick exit. 

“I didn’t mean to kick you,” you apologized as you molded it back in to a pile. You were careful and meticulous. You couldn’t afford any cross contamination.

You looked across the room to see if anything else had been disturbed.

Hundreds of piles of dust lay untouched in the candle lit room. They each had a small wooden marker bearing the name of the person they once were before the culling. Before Thanos.

Thousands of more glass, dust filled jars lined the walls, labeled in the same fashion. Jabari, River Tribe, Merchant Tribe, Border Tribe, Dora, and even T’Challa all rested in your study. It had taken you weeks to collect everyone, and many were hard won. Mourning families understandably wanted to bury what they had left. They had little trust in the old magic. But you insisted you could help, and this graveyard had been your charge ever since.

Like any good mother, you checked on your two older children. Their jars sat safely, and silently stowed on your desk, where you could see them. 

You settled back down in front of your altar, your mother’s ashes accompanying you. While she couldn’t physically be here to help you, you hoped her residual power and that of your ancestors would guide you as you dove back in to the shadow land.

You focused on your children. The memory of their smiling faces, their jubilant laughs gave you the energy you needed to start the ritual again. Your eyes rolled back in to your head as you entered the ether. You muttered quietly to yourself.

“Don’t worry, babies. Mama’s coming. I’m right here.”


End file.
